“I am Spartacus!”

(WuMo)

If you get the joke in this cartoon, then you likely have seen the 1960 film Spartacus starring Kirk Douglas in the title role and Tony Curtis as his loyal friend and ally, that was directed by Stanley Kubrick with the screenplay by Dalton Trumbo.

Here is the scene.

Trumbo had been blacklisted during the McCarthy era because he had refused to provide names to the congressional committees seeking to identify Communists working in Hollywood and it is assumed that this scene was designed to praise those who refused to betray their friends and colleagues.

The scene has become iconic and I assumed that it had seeped into the popular culture by now so that at least people of my generation would know of it. But it is not the case. I once told a story to a couple my age of a person who would give his name as Spartacus to the baristas at coffee shops so that when they called out his name, he could stand and say, “I am Spartacus!”

My friends had blank looks which told me that they had no idea what the point of my story was so I had to explain it to them, which of course ruins any humor.

Camping

In the comic strip Pearls Before Swine, Rat is the most unpleasant character, someone who is rude, self-centered, and cynical. So it is disturbing how often I find myself agreeing with him.

(Pearls Before Swine)

Actually, I did go camping once. Just after we completed college, a group of a dozen friends spent a week on a beautiful, isolated stretch of beach in Sri Lanka. I had a lot of fun but part of the enjoyment for me was the novelty. Now it is a case of ‘been there, done that’ with no desire to repeat that experience, though some of my friends on that trip continued to enjoy going camping all their lives.

Bob Newhart cracks up Dean Martin

Actor and singer Dean Martin, early in his career, was part of a comedy duo with Jerry Lewis, where he played the straight man to the more antic Lewis. Later he hosted a live variety TV show. Bob Newhart was a great comedian, known for his hesitant manner and his deadpan delivery. On one occasion, he was a guest on Martin’s show and they did a sketch together. Legend has it that Martin never rehearsed for his show but simply read his lines from the off-screen cue cards, sometimes seeing them for the first time while on live TV.

On this occasion, he clearly did not anticipate how funny Newhart could be and you can see the result.

More pun fun

It’s been a while since the Pearls Before Swine strip had one of those puns with a convoluted set up that you know is coming from the first panel.

(Pearls Before Swine)

UPDATE: I realized that some people may not be old enough to know the song being referred to so here is a music video of the Village People doing their hit.